Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Holden and the Uvengenols

Today I got some (somewhat) devastating news… well,
devastating to a six-year old, or his mom.

“I got some sad news today, Mom,” Holden tells me as he climbs in the car after school. “I’ve got
to shut down the Uvengenols Factory.”

Just a sample of what he does in an afternoon....

Over the past 2.5 years, Holden has created thousands of
these paper pieces. Ranging from the size of your thumb to an entire sheet of
paper, they’re super heroes mixed with a blend of whatever he fancies at the
moment. On average, he spends at least an hour a day working on them. Many a
tree has given its life to the cause.

When he first created them, people were constantly
correcting him:

“You mean Avengers?”

“No!” He’d say in disbelief. “Ah-veh-gen-ols.”

It wasn’t
until he started to read and write a little that we learned Uvengnelos was
spelled with a U. #themoreyouknow

So the brand has been influenced by Pokémon, Skylanders,
volcanoes, saber-tooth tigers, mammoths and a host of other things. I haven’t quite figured out how the game is
scored. But I do know that usually I lose when we play.

“Did you know there’s a new Uvengenols movie coming out
Mom?” He used to ask me this question almost daily.

“Oh," I’d respond. "I didn’t even know the screenplay had been
written.” Apparently it’s a franchise… currently we’re up to about the sixth
installment..."but most of the movies are PG-13 because of violence and adult themes." At least, according to the Stan Lee of Uvengenols.

He created Uvengenols to go with his school Valentines.

He created “Starter Packs” to give out and trade.

Uvengenols is how we discovered his love for art… Uvengenols
is how we discovered why coloring books were not that interesting to him (why
color what someone else created when you have an entire fantasy world already
in your mind?)

Much like Disney, he recognizes the value in marketing; and
Uvengenols definitely has made it’s own brand.

But today, he informed me that the entire business was going
under.

“I’m going into Bots now, Mom.” Apparently, one of his
besties at school, is a Bot-maker; and Holden has decided it’s more important
to go to work for him, than continue with his small-business.

“William* had me sign this thing…” he shares.

“A contract?” I ask.

“Yes!” He tells me. “A contract. He said if I want to make
Bots starter packs, I can’t make Uvengenols anymore. The whole thing is over.”

I should just point out that before William’s second year of
Pre-school, he was reading chapter books and finished the ENTIRE Treehouse collection
of books before he turned 6. William is kind of a genius, an apparently
understands the power of non-compete clauses at a very young age.

So I’m a little bit heartbroken that the Uvengenols are
leaving our family. I guess all good things must come to an end.

But wait……

As I’m writing this, Holden has made his way into the master
bedroom with a bunch of documents telling me:

“Mom, Uvengenols is up and running again! I just signed
papers for it!”

“What are you going to tell William?” I ask him.

“I’m just working to do a little bit of Bot Packs,” he tells
me. I hope his new boss is understanding that you can try to take the boy out
of the Uvenegnols, but you can’t take the Uvengenolas out of the boy.